My Language

Heritage
Project
By Margaret Lamb
Chicago, Illinois
I grew up on the west side of Chicago, in Burr Ridge, Illinois. This is where I lived for
22 years with my family of six. My two brothers, Conor and Steve, my sister, Colleen,
and my mother, Barbara, and father, Patrick. I attended Pleasantdale Elementary
and Middle school growing up. This makes me an Illini.
 Russian American
My sister and one brother and I were all adopted from
Russia. My brother and I are adopted from Yekaterinburg
which is located in Siberia, while my sister is from
Moscow. I grew up with a strong accent and had a long
process with speech therapy to help pronounce my
sounds. To this day, I still struggle daily to try to be heard
and understood. In the first few years of elementary
school, I was very hard to understand that teachers and
my parents would ask me to repeat several times until I
gave up and ran away. When people ask what accent I
have, I answer that I was born in Russia but raised in
Chicago since I was 1. They determine then if it is the
Chicago or Russian accent that they hear. It never is the
same to people. My father hears an accent, but my
mother does not.

Russian (Yekaterinburg) accent example

Birth Name vs Given Name
My birth parents gave me the name of Ekaterina. My nickname in the
orphanage was Katiya. The name Ekaterina means “pure”. Katiya is a
common nickname for this name as well as a common name for the city
of Yekaterinburg. This is spelled Екатерина.

My adoptive parents gave me the name Margaret, after my mother’s

side of the family (Margaret Lee, my great grandmother and Margaret
Russell, my other great grandmother). My middle name, Anne, is the
same as my grandmother’s middle name.

In Russia, Margarete means “pearl”, while in Irish and American

meaning, it is the name of a saint.
Barbara Lamb My mom, Barbara Lamb, was born
in Grand Rapids Michigan, where
Barbara Lynn Mosshammer she grew up and attended school.
Lamb Her background language is english
with heritage connected to Whales,
England, and Ireland. No other
languages were spoken in her family
as far as she knows. Her accent is
closely related to that as a
Michigander.
Language Samples
Whales Example Ireland Example England Example
Grand Rapids main population is
White (nonhispanic), followed by
Black of African American
 Samuel, my grandfather on my
German Language mothers side, grew up in Detroit, MI
Example where his parents (my
great-grandparents), Margaret Lee
Samuel E and Jesse Paul Mosshamer, resided.

Mosshamer Unfortunately, he passed when I

was too little to remember him well,
so I don’t have much information
Samuel E Mosshamer about him other than what my
mother was able to tell me.

Paul’s family came from Germany a

long time ago.
 Beverly, my grandmother on my
mom’s side of the family, was born
and raised in Grand Rapids, MI. She
married my grandfather, Samuel E
Mosshamer. She descended from
her ancestors who originated in
Whales, Ireland, and England.

Beverly Anne She died before I was born and I was

never able to meet or get to know

Mosshamer her.

Her grandparents (my great

Beverly Anne Buckham grandparents) are from Kalamazoo,
Mosshamer MI.
Kalamazoo’s population mainly
consists of white non-hispanic
backgrounds followed by Black or
African American. Multi-racial
backgrounds are third most
prominent followed by white
hispanic.
 Margaret
Russell Margaret, my great grandmother on

Buckham
my mothers side, grew up in
Kalamazoo, MI and met my great

And Harold
grandfather, Harold Kingsly
Buckham, who lived on a farm

Kingsly
outside of Kalamazoo. They

Buckham
Patrick John
My father, Patrick Lamb, was born in
Detroit Michigan and grew up in
Berkley, just outside of the city
Lamb limits. He attended Northwestern
University in Michigan. His accent is
Patrick John Lamb closely related to that of a
Michigander.

He grew up in a working class

neighborhood where the ethnicity
makeup was mostly Polish and Irish.
He remembers how loud and
boisterous people would get with
alcohol was involved
Detroit's population is made up of
mostly Black or African American,
followed by white and Asian.
 My dad’s mother, Helen Lamb, grew
up in Royal Oak, MI but was born in
Pennsylvania. She married Robert
Edward Lamb who grew up in

Helen Lamb
Detroit, MI.

Her mother (my great grandmother)

Helen Mary Lyons Lamb Elizabeth Trainor, grew up near
Pittsburg while her father (my great
grandfather), William Lyons, grew up
in Massachusetts.
 Married to my grandmother on my
Robert Edward fathers side, Robert grew up in
Detroit, MI near Woodward. He

Lamb served in WWII.

His father, Lawrence Lamb, is from

Robert Edward Lamb Port Huron. We are not sure where
his mother grew up.
 Conor Steve
Colleen
Me

Popi
(Robert)
 Dad Conor
Steve
My Family
Me

Mom
Nani Colleen
(Helen)